View source for Raymond L. Orbach

{{Short description|American physicist and political administrator (born 1934)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = Raymond L. Orbach
| image        = Raymond Orbach.jpg
| alt          = Official portrait of Raymond Orbach, former Under Secretary of Energy for Science

| caption      = Official portrait of Raymond Orbach
| order        = 1st
| title        = [[Under Secretary of Energy for Science]]
| term_start   = June 1, 2006
| term_end     = May 2009
| predecessor  =
| successor    = [[Steven E. Koonin]]
| title2       = Director of the Office of Science, [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]
| order2       =
| term_start2  = March 4, 2002
| term_end2    = May 31, 2006
| president    = [[George W. Bush]]
| predecessor2 =
| successor2   =
| title3       = Chancellor of [[University of California, Riverside]]
| order3       = 6th
| term_start3  = 1992
| term_end3    = 2002
| predecessor3 = [[Rosemary S. J. Schraer]]
| successor3   = [[France A. Córdova]]
| birth_date   =
| birth_place  = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], United States
| death_date   =
| death_place  =
| spouse       = Eva Orbach
| children     =
| alma_mater   = B.S., [[California Institute of Technology]]<br />Ph.D., [[University of California, Berkeley]]
| party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| module       =
  {{Infobox scientist | embed=yes
  | fields            = Physics
  | workplaces        = {{ublist|[[Harvard University]]|[[University of California, Los Angeles]]}}
  | thesis_title      = Some problems in spin wave theory in ferromagnets and antiferromagnets and in the generation and attenuation of microwave frequency phonons at low temperatures
  | thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301846065/
  | thesis_year       = 1960
  | doctoral_advisor  = [[Charles Kittel]]
  | academic_advisors =
  | doctoral_students =
  | notable_students  =
  | known_for         =
  | influences        =
  | influenced        =
  | awards            =
  | author_abbrev_bot =
  | author_abbrev_zoo =
  }}
}}

'''Raymond Lee Orbach''' ({{citation needed span|date=March 2025|text=born 1934}}) is an American [[physicist]] and administrator.  He served as [[Under Secretary for Science]] in the [[United States Department of Energy]] from 2006 until 2009, when he was replaced by [[Steven E. Koonin]]. Until his resignation in December 2012,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/12/06/university-accepts-shale-gas-development-report/ |title=University of Texas Accepts Findings on Shale Gas Development Report {{!}} News |website=www.utexas.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209060344/http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/12/06/university-accepts-shale-gas-development-report |archive-date=2012-12-09}} </ref> Orbach was director of the Energy Institute at the [[University of Texas at Austin]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.energy.utexas.edu/ |title = Energy Institute &#124; the University of Texas at Austin}}</ref> Orbach continues to do research as a tenured professor in the Cockrell Family Dean's Chair for Engineering Excellence at the University of Texas.

Orbach received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] in 1956 and a Ph.D. degree in physics from the [[University of California, Berkeley]], in 1960.<ref name="thesis-orbach-1960">{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/301846065/ |title=Some problems in spin wave theory in ferromagnets and antiferromagnets and in the generation and attenuation of microwave frequency phonons at low temperature |date=1960 |publisher=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |type=Ph.D. |last=Orbach |first=Raymond Lee |id={{ProQuest|via=301846065 }}|url-access=subscription |oclc=2090912}}</ref>  Orbach began his academic career as a postdoctoral fellow at [[Oxford University]] in 1960 and became an assistant professor of applied physics at [[Harvard University]] in 1961. He joined the faculty of the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA) two years later as an associate professor, and became a full professor in 1966.

Orbach's research in theoretical and experimental physics has resulted in the publication of more than 240 scientific articles, and he is a fellow of the [[American Physical Society]]<ref>{{cite web|title=APS Fellow Archive|website=American Physical Society|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1971&unit_id=&institution=University+of+California%2C+Los+Angeles}} (search on year=1971 and institution=University of California, Los Angeles)</ref> and the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]].

From 1982 to 1992, he served as the provost of the College of Letters and Science at UCLA, and from 1992 to 2002 as chancellor of the [[University of California, Riverside]].

From March 14, 2002 until mid-2009, Orbach was director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy, making him the highest-ranking science policy administrator within the DOE.  After June 1, 2006, he was the first [[Under Secretary for Science]], for which President [[George W. Bush]] nominated him after the position was created by the [[Energy Policy Act of 2005]].

On August 1, 2009 he became the founding director of the Energy Institute at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. He resigned November 30, 2012 in response to a report critical of the Energy Institute's handling of potential conflicts of interest involving the geologist [[Charles G. Groat]].
<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/12/in-wake-of-scathing-review-of-fr.html
 |title       = In Wake of Scathing Review of Fracking Report, University of Texas Revises Conflict of Interest Policies
 |author      = Eliot Marshall
 |date        = 7 December 2012
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121212073130/http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/12/in-wake-of-scathing-review-of-fr.html
 |archive-date = 12 December 2012
}}</ref>

On November 3, 2009, the Science Library at the University of California, Riverside was renamed Orbach Library in honor of Orbach.

Orbach was born in [[Los Angeles, California]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://energy.utexas.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=164 Energy Institute bio page]
* {{C-SPAN|61099}}

{{UCRiverside chancellors}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbach, Raymond L.}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of California, Riverside alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of California, Riverside]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]